Rosenqvist lapped his Honda-powered MSR machine in 1m00.339s, almost half a second quicker than his rivals after his off-season switch from Arrow McLaren.
The rest of the top 10 were covered by less than three tenths, which moved fourth-fastest driver Power to state that “Felix is on another planet out there”.
“Kinda surprised,” reflected Rosenqvist. “We were really good out of the gates, really confident, which I’ve been since pre-season testing. And on the reds we just took another step.
“The car was just really good. It’s been really nice to come to Meyer Shank Racing, it’s been a really super-easy transition.
“At McLaren it was a big learning curve with the car, but it’s been the opposite here, it’s clicked since day one. It’s a smaller group, so it’s easier to get up to speed.
“A really smooth start for us, we were a bit unsure where we’d stack up when we started pushing, we thought we’d be quick but not that far ahead.
“I think on the street tracks we’ll be good. I feel more confident on those kind of tracks.”
Source: Autosport